Mightier than any weapon, more nebulous than the depth of a shadow
As I hear about situations like Glenn Marcus which have gone horribly, tragically wrong or even relatively more mundane, but just as emotionally charged, dilemmas like Chelsea girl and her beau feeling their way into progressing their relationship, it distills in my psyche to one concept, one word, one irreducible factor; faith.
I could argue that trust should be that element rather than faith, but it would be a fallacious argument. Trust may play a major role, but it is faith that drives it all. Every relationship will have at its core that one reality. You can rationalize or analyze a romantic partner as thoroughly as you wish, vet out all the reasons to trust them as well as not with ruthless efficiency, but it requires a leap of faith to act.
It's present on the most fundamental levels of ourselves. We breathe unconsciously; every expiration is a proclamation of faith that there will be one to replace it. We reach out to pick something up having faith no only in our ability to collect the object desired, but that we can manipulate our own bodies and interact with the world around us. When we walk, it is taken on faith that our steps will convey us forward. This is not a rational "reasonable chance" that everyone subscribes to. No one fails to feel some degree of fear and betrayal to find their breathing constrained. Every trip or stumble is inconceivable at the instant it occurs. We conduct these actions with the self assurance of unflagging success regardless of how many times we have experienced the untruth of that assurance for as long as we have the capacity to perform the action. That is faith. It goes far beyond simple trust. Toddlers do not trust their balance, do not trust their bodies to perform like they want, but they will throw themselves into learning to walk and run on the faith that it is a skill they can master.
Going back to the context of relationships, they exist on the premise of faith. There is going to be a degree of belief that defies sanity. In romantic relationships, it must be taken on faith that barring evidence to the contrary they are happy and that they make each other happy. In some cases, this faith will run counter to every instinct and experience that person possesses. For some it sees them through the rough patches and into shared advanced age. For others, it leads them to plead hysterically with officers when they've come to take their partner to jail for kicking the living shit out of them for the fifth time, because despite everything that has transpired before, they have faith that the worst is now over forever.
For
For Marcus, the situation was so overlaid with misplaced faith as to sear one's soul. Everyone involved carried with them a belief in how their lives would progress, of how their participation in the others' lives would affect them, of finding happiness and contentment. Obviously those faiths have turned to ash. When one is engaging in activities that could with only a slight shift of context fall under the definition of torture, imprisonment, and/or abuse, no matter how deeply you trust them and verify consent, every time you lift that flogger, loop that rope, or reach for the nipple clamps is a declaration of faith. It is not even a declaration for the moment, but instead for the innumerable moments that have yet to be. It is not something to done lightly.
It's humbling. It's perhaps the most profoundly terrifying concepts ever to enter into a human mind. The implications can be dire and utterly devastating if not lethal. At the same time, it is also sublimely beautiful. The bestowal of someone's faith in you is an honor and gift that daunting in magnitude.
I'm awed by all those who have placed their faith in me and hope I never give them cause to regret it.
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